Southland Corp

On the day Congress passes legislation weakening gun-control laws, the Southland Corp. decides to end sales of Playboy and Penthouse magazines at their convenience stores. The president of Southland is concerned about the possible link between adult magazines and crime. Jerry Falwell lauds the decision as "courageous." This does, however, present a problem for the Southland Corp. What are they going to do with the empty shelves? I'm sure the NRA has the answer: Why should law-abiding gun owners have to suffer the inconvenience of going to gun dealers and having to encounter a restrictive waiting period?

Kudos to the Dallas-based Southland Corp. for terminating franchise agreements with eight 7-Eleven stores charged with price-gouging in the wake of the Northridge earthquake ("7-Eleven Cutting Franchises Over Price Gouging," Jan. 22). I'm delighted that Southland has demonstrated that corporate responsibility and integrity are as important as corporate profits. In addition, those contractors, plumbers, electricians and other business people who came through in the clutch--and charged their regular prices--also deserve our applause.

Several black owners of 7-Eleven stores in the Los Angeles area accused Southland Corp. on Thursday of policies that discriminate against minority owners of the convenience stores. At a press conference, the Los Angeles NAACP said it was investigating claims that franchise owners have been required unfairly to come up with "thousands of dollars in a matter of days" to meet financing requirements.

Congratulations for the excellent public service you performed both in your timely editorial (April 8), "Alcohol and the Community," and Douglas Shuitt's subsequent article (April 13), "L.A. Group Deters Bid to Ease Zoning for Liquor Stores." State Senate Bill 2522, introduced by Ken Maddy (R-Fresno), represents another gluttonous power grab by the Southland Corp. (7-Eleven stores) and its "convenience-store" cohorts to hijack local control from cities and counties as they awaken to the need to better regulate proliferating package beer/wine premises.

Southland Corp. said Thursday that it has agreed to sell Chief Auto Parts to the subsidiary's management and Shearson Lehman Bros. for more than $130 million in cash and the assumption of certain liabilities. "We're delighted with the price, as well as the buyers," Jere W. Thompson, president and chief executive of Southland, said in a statement.

Southland Corp., hoping to bolster its business with Mexican-American customers, has begun offering more than 40 types of authentic Mexican food products at about 80 of its 7-Eleven convenience stores in San Diego County. The imported food products are clustered in a specially marked part of the store called "Rincon Mexicano," or "Mexican Corner."